They've delivered their biggest surprise to date. A record that falls short for its constituent parts. [May 2011, p.100]

Wild abandon never sounded so inviting. [Aug. 2011, p. 104]

Can's high-wire spontaneous creation sustains over 90 mind-bending minutes at the highest pitch. [Jan 2022, p.101]

Never tumbles into dissonance. Rather, tracks like the Reichian round of Rytmy shimmer like heat haze on the horizon. [Jun 2023, p.95]

Save for a couple of re-edits, this deeply satisfying blend of emotional techno, Afro rhythms and stripped back house comprises all Daphni Originals. [Sep 2017, p.93]

Last Days Of Wonder is rich in history and nature imagery, yet the couple are equally obsessed with modern life. [Jul 2006, p.101]

Most important is the pure joy of these tracks and how instantly likeable they are. [Nov 2012, p.94]

There's an often harrowing conviction to Rewind The Film's primarily acoustic arrangements and elegant melodies, heralding a new level of artistry for this unique band. [Oct 2013, p.87]

Syd Arthur still dabble in jazz, folk, Krautrock and saucer-eyed psychedelia, but Apricity is a notable leap forward, even from 2014’s excellent Sound Mirror.

For the most part, this is another absorbing chapter in Schott's one-woman sonic odyssey, and where her protean creative compass will take her next is intriguing. [Nov 2017, p.99]

It's almost too strenuous in its attempts to top its predecessors, 20212's Big Inner and 2015's Fresh Blood, but once inside White's all-enveloping world, there's no space to worry too much. [Oct 2021, p.98]

Polizze's bubblegum melodies cut through the fuzz (Out The Door is a cracker), while Baby ups those '80s bona fides by echoing Pixies' Wave Of Mutilation. [Apr 2023, p.89]

There are inevitable quibbles. The omission of The Band’s own songs here is a missed opportunity to tie together these two institutions, both then wrestling with unknown futures. In the sleevenote, critic Elizabeth Nelson forgoes research into a historical moment where the primary witnesses are rapidly disappearing for a spree of purple prose. Some tapes are, of course, better than others. But, by and large, pick a track at random and you’ll find yourself stunned by how hard these six were pushing. [Nov 2024, p.98]

The melancholy feels more goth than hippy and, ultimately, both the sounds and lyrics feel unresolved. [Apr 2024, p.90]

Steve Mason's second album under his own name is more melancholy meander than Molotov Cocktail. [Apr 2013, p.95]

Despite the band's commendably cyclonic hardcore punk energy, Premonition underscores the fact that White Lung are a vehicle with only one gear, and one that has now run out of road. [Jan 2023, p.88]

It's not all bleak: within the lumbering inevitability that a drum machine brings, Broadrick pulls off a singular funkiness, which ensures that the titular 'purge' is fully transcendent, even enjoyable. [Jul 2023, p.90]

Bird escorts well-worn standards down unexpected alleyways. [Jul 2024, p.89]

Looting a Smithsy guitar line for Winter In The Hamptons or aping Steve McQueen-era Prefab Sprout on My Love Has Gone momentarily lifts Rouse's gloom, but it is scant relief from the stillness at Nashville's core. [Mar 2005, p.106]

Still crossing the many rivers of doubt, hope and despair that have faced him since his American Music Club days, Mark Eitzel's tenth solo album can nonetheless throw out surprises. [Feb 2017, p.96]

Minor caveats notwithstanding, at its best One Breath is, indeed, breathtaking, and an undeniable upgrade on its much-vaunted predecessor. [Nov 2013, p.87]

Harris's spellbinding songs still feel beautifully half-hidden, buried in black space. [Dec 2014, p.92]

This edition adds a 1999 concert. .... It's R.E.M. at their sweetest. [Jan 2023, p.99]

El-P's portentous delivery lacks poetics. [May 2007, p.110]

[A] dazzling folk-pop crush. [Mar 2014, p.94]

In all, an unexpected and all-encompassing feast. [Feb 2021, p.98]

Gorgeous and achingly candid. [Nov 2021, p.93]

Paints on a much broader canvas here than 2019's debut Fyah, roving roughshod across genres. ... In Cross's seasoned palms the tuba's possibilities feel endless. [Dec 2021, p.89]